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Dal Khalsa: Give Sikhs the right
of self-determination
WSN Network
 Jalandhar-
Seeking rule of law and honouring of all commitments –oral and
written made by Indian leaders to Sikh Nation at the time of the
independence, the Dal Khalsa wrote a letter to Government of India
on constitutional and legal discriminations.
The delegation
of Sikh body met the Deputy Commissioner S Ajit Singh Pannu and
handed over a copy of the Memorandum addressed to Prime Minister Dr
Manmohan Singh to him. Addressing the press conference on the
occasion of the 60th republic day, party president H S Dhami and KAC
chairman Mohkam Singh said that Indian state has taunted the Sikhs a
great deal in every sphere of life, affecting their life, ideals and
goals.
“While India
celebrated its 60th republic year, we have no hesitation to place on
record that the Indian constitution has failed the Sikh people. The
establishment has used the best democratic ideals and institutions,
including the constitution to scuttle our religious, social and
political aspirations”, reads the letter.
The leaders in a
memo alleged that implementation of the constitution was invariably
according to the whims and fancies of the political parties
dominating the life of the people of this country. He said nothing
short of the right of self-determination, as accepted by Jawaharlal
Nehru would be acceptable to the Sikh people. Accompanied by party
office bearers including general secretary DR Manjinder Singh, Mr
Dhami enlisted constitutional discriminations against the Sikhs.
“In a highly
paradoxical situation, we have today a Sikh as the Prime Minister of
the India, but Explanation II of Article 25 (2) (b) of the
constitution of India still continues to classify the Sikhs as
Hindus”, he pointed out. This dubbing of the Sikhs as ‘Hindus’ in
the constitution, in spite of a recommendation of the Constitutional
Review Committee was the root cause from which flows the legitimacy
armed with which all organs of the government continue to
discriminate against the Sikhs in various ways.
They demanded
that Indian state should immediately abrogate Article 25 (2) (b) of
the Indian constitution as it violates the fundamental recognition
of Sikhs as a separate religion”. “We have had a President and now a
prime minister from the Sikh community but even then the
Constitutional discrimination continues”.
The registration
of marriages, adoption, succession, formation of a family business
(as is possible for Hindu Undivided Family) -for all these we have
to adopt a set of procedures incompatible with our belief systems.
This anomaly should be corrected without any agonizing delay. Like
Pakistan, the Sikhs in India too need a comprehensive legislation
for registration of marriages under the Anand Marriage Act.
Indian
Parliament has amended the Constitution at least 72 times. But not
once did it considered amending it to grant the Sikh community its
due status, they rued. Violating the provisions and clauses of the
constitution, thousands of Sikhs have been butchered all over India
in the last two and half decades, they pointed out. In a blatant
violation of riparian law and basic principles, Punjab has been
robbed of its natural resources (river waters) and territory, said
Mr Dhami.
Dal Khalsa
sought exemplary monetary compensation and relinquishment of
thousands of acres of land as penalty in lieu of the land and waters
of Punjab used by Haryana, Himachal Pradesh and Rajasthan. The party
spokesperson Kanwarpal Singh took a dig at government for denying
holy city status to Amritsar. “While a number of other cities like
Varanasi, Kurukshetra, Rishikesh, Kedarnath, Badrinath and Hardwar
have been declared as holy by the so-called secular government of
India, they have been steadfast in denying the status of holy city
to Amritsar, which houses the Abode of the Almighty”.
27January 2010
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